#anyway here we go noxus

[ann7av]

Okay, am I tripping or does Katarina (?) looks like the perfect love child of Caitiv??

The hair color (even tho hers is more red than pink), the sharp jaw, mouth shape, the blue eyes, smoky eyeshadow... I'm just saying, but it does look like they put those two in a blender and I'm so glad they did because she's beautiful, and apparently an assassin with raging daddy issues (yay)

Btw, wdym Pilltover was the SAFEST path to test out things??? Ambessa was the SAFEST choice???? AMBESSA??? Oh, we're so cooked, she was playing with the false messiah, fascism AND Mel simultaneously like it was disneyland just imagine what those two gothic divas will be doing to top that

[caitlynsrighteye]

Walk with me, caitlyn and fem!reader at a gala celebrating who knows what, cait is in a beautiful suit that fits her sooo well and the women at the party can't stop staring. Before the conflict with noxus she already had several women falling at her feet, but after the war? well, I suppose the status of hero of piltover is quite attractive. Anyway, these women are whispering how hot cait is, circling her like a flock of vultures and practically undressing her with their eyes and reader, feeling jealous, just says "yes, MY wife is very hot, thanks for pointing it out" and no one has the courage to remind her that she and cait are girlfriends, not married

Sorr if it is a little bit confuse, english is not my language so i'm using google translate

SO CUTTEEE HOLD ON💍👈😝 🧍🏻‍♀️🧍🏼‍♀️🧍🏾‍♀️

Gala engagement

Caitlyn Kiramman x reader

Contains: wlw, fluff, jealous!fem!reader, amused Caitlyn, s2!cait, after the war with Noxus, established relationship

wc: 1.2k

Masterlist

“Baby come here, your jacket’s crooked,” Caitlyn peeks down at her chest before stepping towards you. Your fingers grab the collar of her sleek navy blue blazer, adjusting, and folding it down neatly. Fixing the knot of her tie and patting down her torso to even out any wrinkles.

While your hands work, her blue eye stares. She watches as you fix her suit, one that she had gotten tailored to fit her lengthy form perfectly. It hugged her curves and defined her slim waist, and the Kiramman crest was stitched on the cuffs of her sleeves and the folds of her jacket. The sight caused a buckle in your knees and your teeth to nip your bottom lip. Once you’ve finished helping her, your gaze darts up, meeting hers.

You look deeply into her uninjured eye. Her other is behind a soft eyepatch protecting the wound. She leans in, your palms still on her chest as her lips meet with yours, glossy and soft.

After another peck, you both pull away. A comfortable silence between you two as you stare at each other’s cleaned up form. Tonight, her and her father were hosting a gala. Not their usual ones filled with champagne and rich laughter of wealthy aristocrats.

No. Tonight, Caitlyn is officially announcing her role as head of the Kiramman name. Taking up the responsibility of her mother's leadership role, but not her seat on the council.

It has been a few months since the battle with Noxus. Her scars are still healing. You look over every cut and scarred skin along her face, standing higher on your toes to place a soft peck on each mark.

She closes her eye, hands on your waist to balance you, sighing into your soothing touches.

You wore only your best dress, one that matched Caitlyn’s. Strapless, yet modest. Neck and wrists covered in jewelry, gifts from your loving girlfriend who spoils you like a Goddess. 

“You’re stunning as always,” she says, soft enough for only you to hear, even though you both were secluded in the privacy of her room in the Kiramman manor. “And you are… distracted, my love. Can’t even fix your own suit?” You tease. “Apologies, darling, you know I hate going to these galas.”

You raise your hand to hold her cheek, and the tip of your thumb gently caresses the bottom seam of her eyepatch.

The tall woman taps her fingers nervously on the sides of your hips, feeling the fancy pattern woven into the corset part of your elegant gown.

"Tonight is about you. Everyone is here to celebrate our victory against Noxus..." You press your forhead to hers while your hands hold onto her fidgeting ones, hoping it'll calm her nerves. "To acknowledge your bravery and heroism, Caitlyn."

Her glare that was once on her shoes rose to meet yours, bouncing between both of your eyes, trying to figure out which orb to focus on more.

For what feel like a long moment, yet you wouldn't mind staying like that forever, you eventually give her one passionate kiss before parting. You look towards a clock hanging on her wall. "We should go before your father gets overwhelmed, entertaining the guests on his own."

She flashes a smile, one where her tooth gap shows. A quick nod to her head before interlinking her arm with yours, guiding you to the event wing of the manor.

Upon arriving, the space was piled with Piltover and Zaunite civilians, enjoying the sweet melody of a pianist playing on an expensive piano. All guests enjoy champagne while conversing amongst each other.

You find Tobias, Caitlyn's father, who was mid conversation with a group of other weathy men.

He spots you both approaching, and you immediately greet him with a polite gesture, a hug with a kiss to his bearded cheek. A gesture that won the hearts of her parents when they first met you.

Caitlyn does the same to her father. "Yes, yes, this is my daughter, Caitlyn," he pulls her closer to introduce her to these seemingly powerful looking businessmen. "Ah, the Sheriff, your father speaks very well of you. Along with the rest of Piltover. We were wondering if you'd be interested-."

You nodded off, whispering to your navy-haired partner quickly that you grab some drinks while they talk about some deal you had no business with.

A table of beverages and gourmet foods is where you pondered off to. You grab a couple of glasses of champagne for yourself and Caitlyn. Taking a few sips of the light colored liquid, you hear a few mutters just a bit further down the table.

Taking the glass away from your lips to peer at the small group.

Women, maybe around your age, all giggling and blushing in their gala dresses. Doe-eyeing someone across the room. You paid no mind till you heard one of them say, "Gods, she's so handsome."

The other two chuckle with their hands hovering over their mouths. "Piltover's finest war hero," she bites her lips, seems to be glancing up and down from a distance. "I heard she's the Sheriff now-" one lady interrupts her, "Oh, she can come arrest me."

Steam practically fumed out your ears. With the glasses still in your hands, you storm over to the group.

Right behind them, you put on your best fraudulent smile that you needed to blind them with. Fixing your posture into a confident demeanor that made you seem clueless, yet possessive.

You clear your throat, getting the attention of the woman. "Oh, my wife? Yes, she's very hot. Thanks for pointing that out."

Oh, they saw a physical depiction of your emotions floating behind you. A dark, angry spirit ready to pounce on them as you smiled with squinted eyes. They embarrassingly and fearfully shuffled away from you, disappearing into the crowd of guests.

You blow a loose strand of hair from your face. Content with the reactions you received from them.

"Wife, huh? Last I checked, we were just girlfriends," You looked behind you and turned in the direction where your gorgeous navy suited, tall lover stood. You look off to the side to huff a small chuckle before looking back at her.

"We better fix that. I want a ring right now, or else I'll have to duel those women for you," you tease, handing her the glass of champagne you had grabbed just for her.

She takes a sip before lowering it down. Her free hand came up to swirl a finger around the tip of the glass. "There wouldn't be any competition," her stare leaves the glass in her hand and towards you where she admired the face she's fallen in love with, yours.

She steps to your side, reaching a hand to hold the small of your back, pulling you in closer.

"Well then, what would this pretty lady want for a ring? Diamonds? A custom engraving?"

You were stunned, yet falling head over heels once again, like you've done many times before when it came to Caitlyn and her sweet words, that knew how to make your heart race in a second.

"Anything, as long as it comes with you forever," you both looked disgustingly cute to the naked eye. Faces so close your noses nuzzled together, lips barely grazing.

In one swift movement, Caitlyn tips you over plants a long, passionate kiss to the delicious pads of your mouth. One of your legs flew up as she kissed you. Your glasses clank together when they make contact.

You knew you had Caitlyn Kiramman from the start. She was in love with you and needed nobody else, but you by her side. Forever, till death do you part.

Note: Thank you for another amazing request! I hope I wrote what you were expecting :)

I love executing replies and am glad you trust me writing what you ask for. Hope you enjoyed it and have a wonderful day♡

[0-shutdown-0]

Hi! I wanted to create a collaboration of notes I had on Steb and his contribution to the plot of Arcane, also posted this on reddit, so here is everything from stuff I saw to things I hypothesized -

This is Steb:

You can look on his little fandom wiki tag for stuff that I don't touch BUT ESSENTIALLY

1 He appears in episode 1 as the silent officer who pokes Loris while Maddie talks to Vi. And from what I get from the conversation is that Steb had to have worked on the force long enough to be given Maddie as a junior officer that shadows him. An interesting combo considering he turned out to be reserved care and Maddie ended up being false cheer.

2 He's well trained in close combat and seems to prefer it on multiple occasions.

At the very beginning he holds a collapsible baton that seems to be geared more into disarming people or incapacitating them. During the attack on the memorial where he's not only the first to act but later when he reunites with Maddie and their surrounded by Shimmer mutants she seems to have given him a blade that Steb wasted no time in stabbing into the closest mutant. And it develops into him using dual single hand batons when he's enlisted on the strike team.

(We later see all mutants have spears in their head so I can't tell if he killed or not. But I do think he accidently killed the man that shot the flare because there was blood coming out, the mouth was parted open, and both Mel and Steb looked shocked.)

It isn't until episode 9 during the finale we see him shooting a gun that I think it resembles his decision that now he really doesn't have a choice other than to kill the enemy and save the platoon he was given to command (NOTE: I believe everyone he was given to command all ended up surviving) or die trying to knock people out and reduce casualties. I find it interesting especially since he's a medic in addition to being an enforcer.

3 HE IS SO AWARE OF EVERY LITTLE THING

Complete distrust to the Noxus when they arrive? Check. Wide eyed and stunned at Maddie and Caitlyn's decision to join the Noxus then literally checks out like Loris for a long while? Check. He's literally the person to see everything go down and just decides to assumably remove himself from the equation for the next few episodes before being called upon again AND I WISH I KNEW WHERE HE WENT (which has now led to me writing a fic but anyways)

4 Interesting things that I need to point out

-In the end of episode 1 where the strike team is introduced, Steb is the only one to not get a Hextech upgrade to his weaponry,

I assume this is from some type of moral code he continues to have where he refuses extreme force. Additionally, and its probably a stretch, the screen glitches over Maddie and Loris but focuses on him symbolizing he's the only one out of the three of them to live.

-His ears and his little cheek fin frills respond to EVERYTHING. Kind of reminding me of a fish's lateral line when it responds to vibrations in the water and stuff but anyways-

Considering he's some type of Vastya fishfolk, or half of cuz he has eyebrows and hair, it's interesting. I saw someone comment that the fishfolk had a connection to the Arcane and it's magic AND THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO COOL TO EXPAND ON BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE. That could have been the reason why he averted to using Hextech advancements. And the more in tune senses helping him stay alive.

As well as explain why he was the first to act like in E1 and E3 when the strike team meets Heenox.

- Speaking of E3, you can literally see him not even look up at the murder dolls which includes everyone's death or injury but his coming true. And when he does treat Heenox not only does he see the effects of the Grey but when Caitlyn loads her gun to shoot the man Steb is turning to Vi like a "Get your woman???" 

He seemed to loose trust in Caitlyn there, as I noted he was the only one to look back when their group split as Vi and Caitlyn went off to face Jinx alone.

I can one hundred percent imagine Steb getting angry as a medic when he realizes he was kept in the dark about the use of the Grey as well, because he's not only the one who has to treat it but also has to live with the realization they did more harm to innocents and Jinx was in the right for rerouting all the vents they opened to release it.

- It appears that he is selectively mute, I assume that is has something to do with his biology since Jericho, the street vendor showed in S1 and later in S2, doesn't speak either but is seen being able to laugh and yell just like Steb. Personally think Steb doesn't speak much because its hard to do/hurts.

Which would have been so interesting to have been explored or at least acknowledged because it would have hit so much harder when in E9 we presumably hear him shout for his unit to get up and move when his leadership was needed most. 

-Maddie's betrayal had to have hurt so bad for him. She was his shadow, the one he was suppose to teach and in the end her ambition for power took hold of her and was the reason for her end. And for him to be someone so observant and careful and let that go right past him must have killed a part of him because he probably excused some of her behaviors. Like how Maddie had called Vi "one of the good ones" when referencing her origin from the Undercity. OR even when they were leaving and when Steb motioned for her to follow him Maddie only went when she heard another officer in the distance call for her.

It definitely could have been expanded on if the Arcane team was given a bigger budget for him to sign and Maddie to mistranslate or even ignore his authority because of his disability. Like, she cares for him but not enough to respect him.

I feel like when Caitlyn woke up to see Steb sitting there that pain was shown heavily but not enough. 

Anyways!

If you made it to the end of my rant, yay, this is all the deep diving I'm using for a fic and I hope it helps, if you have any thoughts to add please do!

[low-budget-korra]

The lies Arcane Fandom likes to believe

Okay, I've seen a lot of awful takes in other social medias but now they are getting here too and I just can't. So I will talk abt the truth a lot of the fandom chose to ignore. And I'm saying "the truth" because different from a lot of ppl, I've actually watched the show and paid attention to the scenes.

1. Jinx is the only one who has been traumatized

Half of the worst takes about characters like Vi or Caitlyn, wouldn't exist if ppl realize that Jinx WASN'T the only one who got traumatized. Vi spent 7y getting beat up in prison, without eating properly and confined in a dirt cell. And no, she is not the one to blame for the person Jinx became. Jinx has to be held accountable for that, just as much as Silco for feeding her paranoias and manipulating her for years.

2. Caitlyn was a evil character and manipulated Vi

Season 1 Caitlyn shows nothing but empathy and patience, y'all like to say Jinx was a revolutionary but s1 Caitlyn was a revolutionary. "Oh but she was rich, she can't be" oh my sweet summer child...

Anyways, she wanted to end Silco cartel - that was destroying Zaun. She even managed to get a council meeting to talk about this. She wanted to change things and she was acting towards this.

Then she got kidnapped naked, tortured for hours, didn't take the shot that would have saved her mother's life, her mother was murdered, the memorial ceremony was attacked and yet she REFUSED to follow the council's ideas to use full force and invade Zaun. Which led us to

2.1 Caitlyn used the grey against innocents

She DIDN'T. She said it herself that the plan was to capture Silco's goons and destroy the slimmer factories. And we see that in the Hellfire sequence.

So stop spreading that she was using the grey against innocents bc the people she used against it were Chembaroons who provoked a civil war on Zaun for power, and used children labor in its factories. They are far from innocents.

2.2 Caitlyn manipulates Vi

I don't even know where this fake news came from bc I've already watched Arcane 3 times, watch at least 4 reaction channels and a few analysis on yt and no one apart from some of y'all in fandom sees this. Jinx manipulates Vi way more than Caitlyn, for example, she is the one that makes Vi believe that her becoming Jinx is her fault.

3. Viktor and Jayce did nothing wrong

Jayce basically built a Chernobyl above Zaun just bc if Hextech goes bad, people from Zaun would be the ones suffering the consequences and not Piltover.

Y'all like to call Caitlyn a genocide (even tho we didn't see any kill directly from hr actions), when Viktor is literally the one willing to kill people in the thousands just because he believes it's the best call. "I want to evolve all those willing to" excuse me? Sir, what "evolve" even means in this scenario? Bc those "evolved" ppl became nothing more than marionettes with no control over their actions and completely brainwashed.

4. Caitlyn was a dictator, she knew everything that was happening on Zaun and did nothing

Caitlyn was actually a pawn in Ambessa chess, a face to Ambessa actions, a face to take the blame for. Noxus could not just simply invade Piltover and install an Martial Law without the support of a major house like house Kiramman.

Essentially what Ambessa did was promote Caitlyn, and hide behind her status. Because if any other Piltie house questions, she could be like "but I'm just here to support the Kirammans, I'm just doing what Im told"

We see in episode 4 that the Noxians are the ones dealing with Zaun's turf wars. Do y'all actually believe their reports on what's happening was legit? Of course not. Caitlyn made her decisions based on those false reports that she didn't even give two fucks about bc she was still too focused on tracking Jinx. That's why when she started to really see what was going on and questions Ambessa, Ambessa quickly pulls the "mom" card to push Caitlyn back into her web.

Sure, she was still powerful and privileged but she wasn't in full control. And the fact that a lot of the fandom dismisses Ambessa's manipulation shows how good at that she is.

5. Vi choose to have sex instead of helping her suicidal sister

Vi DOESN'T watch Arcane. She doesn't know how bad Jinx was and mind you, last time Jinx was acting weird she blew up things instead of being suicidal. We, the Audience, watch her whole journey and change. Vi only stayed with her for a short period of time and she was in a coma for days. She doesn't know what happened after Isha sacrificed and how much this affected Jinx.

"breaking the cycle" could mean a lot of things and if you listen to her words when Caitlyn arrives, you can see that she clearly thinks Jinx is out there abt to blow something. She is blaming herself for believing in Jinx change of heart and not sad for her being suicidal, this prob actually never crossed Vi's mind.

6. CaitVi was forced

I can't with this ""argument"" CaitVi is the couple that has been built since s1 😭. I take that sometimes they were toxic (like when Cait hit Vi) but to say they were forced...please use it 🧠

7. Silco was a revolutionary and a good father do Jinx

Sure, in the past. There's nothing glorious or revolutionary in running a cartel, having business with corrupted cops and child labor. "But he was getting money to his revolution" my ass. He spent 7y doing nothing but becoming more and more powerful while Zaun became like the Pride Lands when Scar took over. He only gets back to his revolutionary ideas when Jinx stole the Hextech gem.

His beautiful speech doesn't match his horrible actions.

The fact that so many ppl see him as this perfect father figure, is the reason so many ppl so easily fall into abusive relationships. Yes, he took care of her but at the same time, he isolated Jinx from her sister , fed her paranoia and instigated her violence tendencies. And it's so clear bc the moment he was no longer in her life, she started to get better in her mental health.

Anyway to finish this long ass post lmao, I want to say that you are free to dislike and hate who you want and what narrative choice you want. The only thing, that ain't that hard, is be fucking honest abt it. There's no need to create bullshit expectations over your hate, ignoring the CANNON.

[sapphic-woes]

Ambessa x princess!Reader

This is an UNFINISHED FIRST DRAFT I'm basically dumping here after asking if anyone would want to read it anyway. I repeat, it is not finished, not edited, and olllld. You have been warned! TW: Blood, gore, death, etc

____

Your vision was murky. Your corset tight, and your head throbbed something awful. Warm liquid leaked out of your nose, mixing with the sea of bloody remains at your feet.

You tried not to gag at the dismembered bodies, let alone cry. This revolt had resulted in the massacre of everyone in the palace except for you. Your family, the maids, the butlers, the chefs…everyone who had ever served your family was dead. The once vibrant walls of the palace were splattered with blood, yet still more startling screams echoed around you.

"Please…where…?" Your voice crooked, begging for the knights dragging you through the hall to speak. You had never expected the military to rise against your family like this. Yet here you were, scared of the people in uniforms you used to find safety in. They didn't say a word in response, stiff as they walked you into the throne room.

"My queen. We have brought her." You could hardly stand, held up by the two soldiers at your sides. Why haven't they killed me yet? When you had finally been caught hiding, you were certain they would kill you without hesitation. Yet here you were, alive and being brought to their leader.

"…Let her go." The arms holding you up relaxed, and you hit the floor with a groan. Your cheek pressed against the marble floor slick with blood, shivering as you saw who it belonged to.

"F-father…" You whispered in shock, horrified to see your father's lifeless body not far from you. Tears fell as you covered your mouth with your hands, poorly attempting to muffle your weeping.

In the midst of your shock, you didn't notice the figure approaching you until it was too late. Heavy footfalls made you flinch, and you gasped as a large hand shot out–painfully grasping the entirety of your face. Your stifled protests had the dark figure towering over you chuckle, and you shrunk back as the woman before you squatted down.

"Finally, I've come back for you…master." You froze, stomach twisting with dread. Only one person ever called you that. One woman who you'd hated, despised, and done everything to get rid of.

You looked up into dark gray, stormy eyes. Her smirk was still the same, eerie and downright unpleasant. Her face was smeared with blood, but you knew she didn't mind. Ambessa cooed when your eyes trembled and welled with tears, crimson thumb shifting to catch one as they fell.

"And this time, I'll never let you throw me away again."

—

You met Ambessa when you were twelve, or rather, she was thrown to meet you.

Your father chucked a small creature–no, a child��onto the ground before you, and you blinked. 

You didn't like this. Wasn't she hurt?

"Father, what–"

"You need a playmate, right? We destroyed Noxus, and I thought it would be a good present to bring back to you. Name it and do with it whatever you like. It's nothing more than a toy, understand?" Your father was a cruel man, eating up weaker kingdoms and exploiting them to expand his rule. Noxus had been no different, just one of the many kingdoms your father had decided to take over. 

Usually, he came back after war with a prized jewel or rare artifact to give you in replace of his love…but he had never come back with a living person before.

"I…" You shuffled as you glanced down at the girl before you, swallowing nervously. "I-I am in no need of a toy. I'm older now and I need to mature anyway–"

"Are you rejecting my gift?" His cold tone made your heart stutter, and you gasped as he grabbed the girl's head and jerked her neck back, unsheathing his sword. "Then if she is of no use to you, I have no need to keep such a filthy bloodline alive–"

"No! Forgive me, I spoke without thinking. It was foolish, and I am grateful. Thank you Father." Hastily you spoke, watching your father stare at you for a moment before letting the girl go.

"Good. Train it so you don't humiliate our family more than you already have." With that, your father walked out, slamming the door behind him. You let out a shaky breath before spinning around back to the child, going over to wordlessly help her get treated. Once you both had teamed up together to do a sloppy, yet decent job, you gulped.

"My condolences. To your family that is. I know you probably don't want to hear that from me but…" You bit your bottom lip, reaching out to grasp her hand. 

"I don't want a toy. I want to be your friend, and I promise I'll help you escape. So if you're okay with that, may I please know your name?" The battered and bruised girl before you sniffled. She had been silent this entire time, but now she looked up into your warm gaze. Her eyes were beautiful. Like soft clouds floating in the sky. Her voice croaked as she spoke, but luckily you made out her words regardless.

"I…am Ambessa Medarda."

—

At sixteen, you drove her away.

"Princess." A shadow cast over you, robbing you of the warm sensation of sunlight on your skin. You grimaced, blinking your eyes open. 

The intimidating silhouette above you was familiar. Hypnotizing as Ambessa crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow. Ah–you had been neglecting your studies once again, and they had sent Ambessa to come find you again.

What a poor choice. I'd rather avoid her than the duchess.

"Five more minutes." You mumbled from your peaceful spot on the ground under the cherry blossom tree. Ambessa snorted, and she bent down to slowly speak.

"Now. Do you know how angry the duchess is? You're to be betrothed soon, so she's especially adamant on your etiquette lessons. She'll complain to his majesty at this rate–and then what will you say?" You groaned as if you'd been stabbed, dramatically rising to your feet.

"Nothing. No matter what I'll say, he'll probably lock me up in that dark room for days. Better yet, instruct the maids to beat my legs till I can't stand." Thick fingers wrapped around your wrist, and you yelped as Ambessa pulled you close.

Oh, did she grow taller again? Unlike you, Ambessa seemed to always gain an inch every time she saw you. Now you had to crane your neck all the way back just to look at her face. You hated the care in her eyes. You knew about her feelings, but you had no right to accept them. You looked away, offering a wry smile to her pained expression.

"Don't look at me like that. Hopefully, whatever old geezer I marry won't be fond of such punishments." Ambessa shook her head.

"Princess, you shouldn't be dealing with this at all. Let me help you–" You stood on the tips of your toes to place your finger on her lips, gently smiling as you hushed her.

"But I do deal with it, quite often too, and if you get involved it'll just give father an excuse to get rid of you." Hands clasped behind your back, you walked backwards while keeping Ambessa's gaze. The summer breeze made your dress flutter, kind smile causing Ambessa's stomach to painfully twist.

"You are my one and only knight, and I your one and only "master"…so before I am used as a bargaining piece, I'll make sure my father can never touch you." Ambessa's face contorted, clearly wanting to object. She gripped her sword's handle, gritting her teeth.

"...What will you do?" Your eyes narrowed. You didn't want to say it out loud. You knew how much it would hurt your kind-hearted knight.

"Nothing I can't handle."Ambessa grumbled, allowing you to continue. "Please Ambessa. You can't stay here. Not when everyone treats you like you're less than human."

"But how can I leave you here?" You let out a small laugh, twirling amongst the flowers around you.

"I've lived in this rotten palace for twelve years before you came. I'll be okay for a few more before they marry me off." Ambessa let out a frustrated sigh.

"But I don't want to see you used like an object–"

"Ambessa." Your commanding tone silenced her protests. You looked down at your feet, trying not to let her words get to you.

Ambessa was the only one who cared about you, but you knew it wasn't right to abuse her kindness. While you considered her your friend, you both publicly kept up the appearance of servant and master. Worst yet, since Ambessa's position as a living trophy of war was technically less than a commoners, most of the palace's servants mistreated her behind your back. No matter how much I love her, she needs freedom more than anything else.

"But I am an object. All princesses are. Just…an object that's pampered until she can secure a national alliance." Ambessa opened her mouth to speak, but you shook your head. "Stop, I won't speak of this again. Let me do this one last thing for you–!"

Suddenly, you yelped as hands gripped your arms, roughly pulling you close. Ambessa stared down at you with furrowed eyebrows, seething as she raised her voice.

"For me? Princess, I want nothing but to stay by your side. So why do you keep insisting I leave? Are you driving me away because I told you about my feelings for you? Am I that uncomfortable to be around now?" The pain in her voice made your heart sink. She wasn't, but you decided it was easiest to lie than say the truth. 

"So what if you are? I can't have you by my side with those feelings. I told you already. You're confused, Ambessa." The words flowed easier than you'd expected. How natural was it to tear at those who loved you? To sneer through the anguish in her eyes?

"Am I supposed to love someone I own? You've mistaken my kindness for–" Your voice became caught in your throat as Ambessa's hands squeezed your arms tight, and you winced in pain.

"A-Ambessa, you're hurting me–"

"Don't say that. Don't invalidate my emotions just because they scare you." Ambessa's voice was strained, and your breath hitched as she leaned in close.

"If you knew what I thought of you, you'd never bother to question me again. I want you more than you could ever know, princess…" Slowly, Ambessa bent to cover the distance between you two. Your heart skipped a beat, and you let out a muffled sound of protest as she kissed you.

Her lips were softer than you expected. She tasted bittersweet. You didn't want to acknowledge the bubbling fluster in your chest, or how your legs grew weak. Your skin was hot, and you moaned as she gripped the back of your head and kissed you deeper–

"How dare you touch the princess?" You gasped as your chambermaid suddenly appeared, having finally found you. She was accompanied by other knights, and you gulped when they drew their swords.

"She's done nothing wrong. She...she was only confused! She m-meant no offense." You shoved Ambessa away to breathlessly speak. Your maid raised her eyebrow.

"She has defiled you. She, a trophy of war, thought herself worthy enough to touch the daughter of the king!" The knights moved toward Ambessa, and she prepared herself, but you stepped in front of her, voice hard.

"Then let me punish her. She is mine, is she not?" The maid glanced at the knights. They seemed to silently communicate before she snarled.

"With all due respect, everyone knows you treat that thing favorably. If you administer a minor punishment, word will spread that you are weak…and it will eventually reach the king." You knew her statement was more of a threat than anything, gritting your teeth in annoyance. She only wanted an opportunity to have Ambessa killed, and sadly kissing a royal was grounds enough for the guillotine.

If I don't push her away now, how long until something like this happens and I can't protect her? You knew this would happen again. You needed to protect her. You took a deep, wavering breath.

"...I will exile her from the capital and send her to the north. Are they not in dire need of manpower there?" At your words, Ambessa immediately stiffened, and you shut your eyes.

The northern border was full of monsters, and being sent there was seen as a death sentence. However, you knew that if you didn't do this your maid would rat you out to your father. Then?

He would definitely have Ambessa killed, and he would make sure you watched.

"If I do this, will you be satisfied?" The unspoken question of will you tell my father hung in the air. Your maid smirked, and you wanted to boil her alive.

"It is sufficient. Now come, there's no need to keep near a being that doesn't know her place, is there?" Your maid tilted her head with a sickly sweet smile, and the knights sheathed their swords. They won't even allow me to say goodbye. 

You had just dictated that Ambessa die a gruesome death, and now you would leave her like this? You wanted to stay and tell her your true feelings. That you did care but couldn't love her while she was forced to stay by your side like this. However, you only nodded, accepting your role and standing beside your maid.

"Good. You're becoming more like a ruler each day. Congratulations, princess. Now take it away." You wanted to gag, but instead you held your head down, as the knights moved to grab Ambessa. You tried to block out the sounds of her struggling, flinching when she called out to you.

"Princess…" You bit your bottom lip. Your vision blurred with hot tears, but if you wavered now the maid would surely tell your father. If he knew you cared for Ambessa, that you actually thought the kiss was divine…how long would it be before he got her killed? You swallowed, forcing a look of displeasure on your face as you glared at your precious knight.

"Didn't you hear? You'll be stationed in the north. Isn't it befitting?" You forced a sinister smirk onto your face, mockingly tilting your head. 

"A disgusting thing like you will be right at home with those vile monsters. Who knows? Maybe you'll find a beast that can actually love you back too."

—

That was the last time you saw Ambessa. You had abandoned the idea of happiness after that, only content with your spies updating you that she was still alive in the north. However, you hadn't known she had gained a following and power there.

You had heard of the rebels. Hell, you had hoped that they would overthrow your father and end your miserable life. However, you had never expected this.

"A-Ambessa…?" You whispered with wide eyes, shocked to see the woman you had loved right before your eyes. She was bigger now, terrifyingly massive as she stooped over you, skin riddled with scars. 

"Yes, master…" You jumped when her knees hit the floor. Her hand still holding your face dragged you forward against your will, and you could only muster up a whimper and she roughly kissed you. You felt she wanted to eat you whole, unable to push her away as she used her strength against you. She chuckled at your fretful squirming, calmly pressing her lips against your mouth and stealing your breath away. 

Weren't the knights that had dragged you here still in the room? You couldn't do such vulgar things before them! You struggled, but Ambessa merely pushed you down, pressing your back against the bloody floor as she coaxed out a pleading whine from your throat.

"I'm here." You heaved as she pulled back, staring down at your weak form as if you were a delicious snack. 

"Y-you lead the revolt? Why?" Your questions were feebly spoken, still worried she'd kill you. The rebel leader smirked, rising from the floor to grab her sword. Your eyes widened as you realized it was nestled deep into the back of your father, releasing a horrid squelsh as she jerked it out of his body.

"For you of course. Well, maybe to fight off the tyranny and oppression too." You squeaked when Ambessa suddenly stabbed her sword down before you, laughing at your terror, "but mainly? For you, princess." 

You quivered as she lifted her sword to trace its top against the bodice of your dress, moving to lift your expensive necklace off your plush skin. "You don't know how long I spent in that frozen wasteland dreaming of having you in my grasp again. I nearly went insane–"

"Nearly? I'd argue you did." You didn't dare turn away from Ambessa, only using your eyes to glance at one of the rebels coming towards you two. The man looked as wretched as Ambessa as he smirked down at you, whistling low.

"Is that her? Now I finally understand that obsession of yours. She's pretty even when she's covered in blood." Ambessa only glared at him, and he quickly raised his hands up in surrender.

"I know I know–she's yours to rip apart." Rip? You trembled, not wanting to know what that meant. Clearly Ambessa hated you enough to take over the entire kingdom just to have her revenge.

[tiredbogwitch]

Maddie Nolen always being a Noxian spy COULD'VE made sense if she wasn't also supposed to be a rookie enforcer. Because plenty of countries IRL have sent spies to other countries, even if they weren't planning to go to war with them. The problem was just how quickly she ingratiated herself into foreign law enforcement when they presumably know she's not a native Piltovan. So it would've been way more interesting if she'd been introduced prior to season 2, as a normal person (perhaps a passing acquaintance of Jayce's prior to his apartment blowing up) who maybe moved there for education or some other cover story.

Like, maybe she was supposed to be a student at the same academy Jayce or Caitlyn goes to (idk if they went to the same one), as, like, a transfer student or on education visa or via scholarship etc. So they know she's from Noxus, but since they're not actively hostile and she's not really being suspicious, no one thinks twice about her. Then, maybe she graduates after act 1 and by act 2, she's now living there for "work"/she decided she liked Piltover so much that she wanted to stay. And again, no one thinks about it because, well, Mel Medarda is Noxian, and she's a councilwoman! What reason would they have to be worried?

So by act 2, she's somewhat-friends with Caitlyn, and maybe pretends she's "inspired" by her to join the enforcers. They're not best friends or anything, but Maddie's persona as "Caitlyn fangirl/admirer" leads to everyone- including Caitlyn- to sort of overlook her. After all, she's been here for YEARS and hasn't seemed to do anything. I'd imagine as a trade port, Piltover has a decent amount of immigration every year anyway. I'd think a good chunk of their population are first-generation immigrants, so they don't think twice about Maddie joining the enforcers. (EDIT: The reason why I take umbrage with this in canon is how soon she's hired after presumably moving there + the fact that this idea ISN'T canon, therefore for all we know there might be no immigration at all in Piltover).

Then by season 2, she's not necessarily "experienced," but she's been on the force about as long as Caitlyn has (and has known her for even longer), so when Caitlyn pulls a dictator, Maddie ends up as primary advisor and first pick on the strike team. It would also make Caitlyn rebounding with her make more sense- they're not super close or anything, but there's a level of trust there already. It could also help mitigate that power imbalance. It's still there, but this time it's more like "being messy and fucking your friend" than a strictly professional line being crossed (because being friends means they're already past professional).

This way, she doesn't have to be super relevant to the plot prior to season 2, but she doesn't feel out of place, either. You might wonder how and why she'd spy for that long without switching sides/going home/etc., but honestly IRL countries have done weirder shit, especially when it comes to spies. Many have years-long missions. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

Anyway, that's what I think would've made the "betrayal" REALLY stick the landing. Because it wasn't just "my side piece- who I inexplicably trusted for some reason- SHOT me, can you believe it?!" But rather, "Oh, I did NOT see you coming. Et tu, Brute?"

[theoddest1]

Okay so, ima type in what I typed to my friend here.

"Yeah Ima be so dead ass. ||Mel and Ekko carried the final for me, ESPECIALLY Ekko."

Yeah, they should have just kept [Viktor] being Ryze. That made more sense to me than whatever this is. And I am all for mlm rep, but yeah, this felt WAY too, Jayvikky. I liked it better that they were brothers to parallel Vander and Silco, who also found each other and became bros, but it seemed like they went with how popular JayVik was and stuck with it. And Jayce being strung with Viktor for wherever they went felt...kinda nonsensical. I'd rather that Viktor was thwarted and too far gone to then just suddenly have a change of heart and go with Jayce. I imagined that he would have a contingency where he, incase his body was destroyed, would then later rise again to try and enact "Glorious Evolution". It would go well with the themes of his beliefs anyway because every time he dies, he comes back stronger in a new body. I feel like that would better set the ongoing conflict and fit well with the game and why he looks the way he does currently.

I also don't like how quick he and Mel's reunion was considering how much he favored her along with his odd and sudden dislike for her decisions-- Seriously, where did that even come from!?"

[Thought it over further. Him calling her out on her actions isn't the issue. It's the timing and how this transpires that confuses me. He just came from a post-apocalyptic world where Mel, Viktor, and everything else came to mind. The lack of time for them to truly talk made the scene felt out of nowhere and not at all fleshed out. He goes on to place part of the blame on her when literally it wasn't. She DID manipulate but only politically. Everything else was on he and Viktor. Then, when he DOES confront Viktor, the vibes are different. Viktor hurt and caused a chain of events that led to several lives being taken to ensure survival and his "Glorious Evolution", why is this essentially overlooked? Maybe when I review this again, it will make more sense, but as of now, the way Jayce treats both Mel and Viktor is VERY questionable.]

"I would have been pretty happy if He at least gave her a hug, a kiss, something to make their relationship seem consistent with what we were shown. I know that he's been gone for a while and a lot more cold, but this was a very odd direction to go with. I am super happy about Cait and Mel fighting side by side and that Mel may be the main character for a new Noxus related show! [Which I knew they'd set up!] but this series, after seeing it in its entirety, DID suffer too much from the pacing issues. I assumed at the First Act that it was quick paced to go with how they've all been shifted into places they didn't see coming, but the pacing issues continued to bring down the quality. 3 seasons would have made way more sense and would go well with the 3 ACT formula they had used. I hope they learn from this and refrain from making similar mistakes.

[I responded to my friend who posted these images above] I knew they'd make a callback to this line eventually, and I am genuinely surprised people are not catching this obvious set up to Jinx living. Also, I am betting that Heimer did "die" but only that alternate version of himself. [Though obviously I could be wrong, though a life of various lifetimes where he helps each version of the main cast sounds very Heimerdinger of him, especially since he didn't wanna leave.]

The biggest letdown for me has to be Jayce and Viktor's story. It just...doesn't make sense with what we have been shown. Also, if Viktor KNOWS bad shit would happen when bringing Hextech to life and all, why TF would he give it to Jayce then???? Or if he STILL wanted magic to be tampered with shy doesn't he comvince himself in a way HE KNOWS would prevent what happens next, surely NOT EVERY timeline has it where you continue on the path of destruction! You see what I mean!?!? Leave the time crap to Ekko, man. This new inclusion makes no sense! And he does this in VARIOUS timeliness for some reason. Man, I wish it was just a random ass mage or Ryze, this added stuff kinda kills the finale for me🫠

I feel that making Viktor time travel ruins a huge aspect of the story, ngl, especially when Jayce argues that people can "craft their own path." The story also shouldn't have ended with what I could only assume both of them "dying" or traversing time instead. Also, the way Sky was treated and essentially replaced with Jayce feels....very very weeeeird."

[I believe that the ending just didn't land that well. I feel, now thinking over every character, Ekko, Mel, and Jinx carried this season HEAVY. These 3 were the most interesting parts of the season, honorable mention being Singed cause he be doing what he MUST. Also, what was the point of introducing Loris if all he was gonna end up being was a random guy who reminded Vi of Vander? I guess nothing is wrong with this, but when you're already stringing for time, these inclusions make no sense... I liked him, though, RIP Loris🤧. Oh, and Caut barely facing consequences is KINDA CRAZY but it goes with the themes of forgiveness/ acceptance. The Cycle would never end, after all, but yeah Vi and Cait made up WAY too fast and just shows that this needed another season. Let me know your thoughts!]

[yannisdesk]

Arcane: Is it Copaganda?

I talked about this a bit on twitter, but I will type it up here and elaborate (we all know twt is not the place for longform content anyway). My main argument for Arcane being copaganda isn't due to the existence of Caitvi being Enforcers in season 2, it mainly has to do with Marcus, and how his contribution to the narrative is handled.

Arcane makes it pretty clear from the jump that Marcus is corrupt; he was more than willing to use excessive force against Zaunites who posed no threat to him early in Act 1, foregoes due process to strike a deal with an up and coming crime lord to take down four kids, one of which is possibly an age that's not even in the double-digits, then kidnaps a 15 year-old Vi, and throws her into Stillwater, a notoriously horrifying prison, indefinitely (life sentence) with no trial or records - all done so he could allegedly keep her "safe" (more on this later).

Marcus is then showed not only continuing to uphold his end of the deal with Silco, which includes allowing shimmer to spread throughout the Undercity, but also directly benefitting from it, becoming sheriff in seven years or less. He shows some resentment over this, but nothing to the point of actually going out of his way to do the right thing or change his situation. He dies, in a show of overt police brutality, trying to kill Caitlyn and Ekko for trying to negotiate peace for Zaun and justice for Silco's actions.

And what happens afterwards in regards to the greater implications this could have for the narrative addressing state violence and corruption, and how it's maintained through organizations like law enforcement? Absolutely nothing.

You would think Marcus, the literal sheriff, being involved in high-level conspiracy, corruption, and who knows what else, would be a wakeup call to people like Caitlyn who are Enforcers but are supposedly in it for altruistic reasons; and also possibly to the council and Piltover overall - "Hey, there's a serious issue with our law enforcement if the sheriff of all people could turn out like that. Maybe we should clean house?" I'm no fool, I didn't expect Arcane to do a police abolishment plotline because that would be a one-way ticket to getting review bombed by rabid "anti-woke" dudebros who never cared about the show anyway; but the Enforcers are not challenged or elaborated on in the slightest in season 2, if anything they get worse.

Caitlyn knows that Marcus, her boss, was corrupt, imprisoned her girlfriend indefinitely when she was just a teenager, and got away with it Scott-free. Had it not been for Jinx's bridge attack in S1E7, Marcus would've killed her, Ekko, and Vi who'd ran back to try and save them. And he more than likely would've gotten away with that too. But we never see her ponder this at all, not even in season 1.

We're shown Enforcers being horrible throughout first season. The warden, who is an Enforcer, brags about how many times he's brutalized Vi. We're shown Enforcers slamming a Zaunite through glass windows for responding with being called a slur with spitting on their boots, we're shown in the "Enemy" music video that Enforcers slammed young Vi and Powder against gates for random searches and how humiliating that is.

But come season 2? All of that is washed away. I thought they were going to do something with how willing the Enforcers were to use the Grey, but no, not even that's addressed after Act 1. No one from Caitlyn's strike team ever faces consequences for that. Maddie dies because she betrayed Caitlyn, and Loris is killed in the midst of battle against Noxus, but neither of those scenarios has anything to do with their willingness to comply with wielding gas weaponry against an entire population of people. Maddie spying on Caitlyn for Ambessa is treated as a greater crime than her actions in Zaun. Vi has the audacity of going around calling other people traitors as if she also did not comply and defend it. Same goes for Caitlyn, Loris, and Steb.

And as for the rest of season 2, we get glimpses of the Enforcers rounding up Zaunites and participating in martial law, which was brutal on the Undercity, but again, it's never given any narrative weight the way it was in season 1. Come time for the main characters to fight off the new Big Bad™️(Ambessa + Noxus and Viktor) all of a sudden the Enforcers are shown mostly in positive or humorous lights. Gert, who has spent most of season 2 rebelling against them because of their heightened tyranny under Caitlyn, is all of a sudden willing to join them and die wearing their uniform just because one of them behaved like a human for half-a-second. The show ends with Caitlyn and Vi being active members on the force, and that's where it ends.

I believe Marcus is mentioned possibly once in act 1 of season 2 (I'm not rewatching to confirm), but other than that his entire influence is dropped, which is just strange and unrealistic, and is a lost opportunity for Arcane to address this topic beyond the surface. You would think someone like Caitlyn or even Vi, or hell, anyone would at least attempt to use his story as inspiration for a reformist angle, but no, we didn't even get that. Marcus is relegated to a "one bad apple" cliche, which is when cops who get caught up with corruption or brutality are treated as outliers within the system, not reflections of the systems deeper problems; which you'd think with Marcus, being the sheriff, would mean the writers would take advantage of that, but no they don't. The other half to that "one bad apple" saying is "spoils the whole bunch" - there were definitely plenty of Enforcers who were either complicit, just like him, or even worse. But the writers abolished that for whatever reason and gave us this whitewashed slop of a plot with the Enforcers which was equal parts insulting and dissatisfactory. Treating Marcus as "one bad apple" is copaganda, full stop, and that affected the rest of the story. The Enforcers have not even attempted to reform at all; they've just wrecked even more havoc on Zaun and got away with it, and characters who'd you would expect to have something to say about that don't because the writers desperately want you to forget about this aspect of the story because it clashes with their "the devil you know"-centric finale.

[acatthatmakeseclairs]

Arcane Season 2 Necrit Interview Transcript + my ramblings

Hello! I thought I’d share the transcript for the Necrit & Christian Linke Interview on tumblr because it flopped on reddit lol (you can find the transcript at the very end of this post (ⓛ ω ⓛ*) )

Some notes to consider before going through the transcript and the rest of this post:

The transcript is of the YouTube video ver. of the interview, I’m crazy, but I’m not so crazy that I’m going to attempt to transcribe a 4 hour VOD.

The transcript is images for now, because I would not be able to fit a 2+ hour interview in a 40k character limit (the interview is like 60k+ characters, 50k+ without spaces)

I’ve added timestamps so you guys can easily reference a question or response from the video directly; I’ve also highlighted certain sections of the interview that I thought were interesting :)

For the discussion section, I’ll be referencing this post, because… let’s just say it was quite incorrect in some sections or there were points that I thought would be cool to talk about.

I’ve tried to be as objective and accurate as I could when getting into the details of this interview, hence why I’ve referenced other interviews and production materials, like concept art, but again, I am human, and I can get things incorrect or I can off as a bit biased– but alas o(*￣▽￣*)o

Anyways, onto the discussion!

Noxus, Ionia and Demacia are getting shows and are next steps into this cinematic universe; they pick each setting to explore [different] sides of [Runeterra].

They are not each getting shows… the team working on this new project, has only, casually, announced one new project.

They are one year into production for one show- the fact that Christian Linke mentioned Noxus, Ionia and Demacia, implies that this new series has a story that is centred around all three nations, not unlike how Arcane’s conflict centered around 3 different nation states: Piltover, Zaun and Noxus, with Noxus being positioned as an overall antagonistic force.

I’m not too familiar with the timeline of League of Legends, but I’ve heard here and there that Swain, a much-teased character in Arcane’s finale, had made his deal with Raum after the Invasion of Ionia, and seeing as he’s made his little cameo after Viktor’s failed ‘Glorious Evolution’, this could imply that we won’t see Ionia in any direct capacity.

Ok, this part is purely wishful thinking, but I think that our main setting for the next installment of this greater story is Demacia.

Noxus is positioned as an antagonist, it would be kind of underwhelming to go right into the motivations and deep mysteries of your central antagonist.

Linke stated that the team starts with ‘character stories’ (01:46:31) before anything else, as well as saying that they like ‘seeing Champions [meeting & interacting]’ (00:03:22) and my brain likes to make connections where there might not be any but what if Jinx was heading towards Demacia, and becomes friends with Lux? Again, total reach, but it’s a fan-favourite duo and it would be a good continuation of Jinx’s story (if they do continue her story that is).

They [considered] Blitzcrank for Season 2.

Christian Linke suggested Blitzcrank to be involved in the story in some way, but the rest of the team shot the idea down, with Linke describing it as ‘silly’ (00:05:31); it was probably a small joke or gag, considering how Linke described it.  

[Heimerdinger] is not dead and other characters might [come] back to life.

Christian Linke did not outright confirm or deny Heimerdinger’s death nor the existence of Bandle City in the Arcane universe, all he said was “I’m not done with Heimerdinger.” (00:07:22) You also have to consider that this guy is a Heimerdinger main, and he’s only one person amongst many who is charge of the direction of Arcane, and it’s related properties. Can’t say I’m not hopeful of Heimerdinger coming back, I love that little guy so much.

As for the other characters? Again, no direct confirmation on Jinx (00:31:45), especially in the last Netflix Afterglow Interview, but Viktor and Jayce … I’ll get into it further.  

Swain is teased to [be] looking into [the history of the Arcane] and [the origins of demons].

I can’t say I fully disagree with this point, but not because of Christian Linke’s comments in this interview (00:19:28). Throughout this second season, Ambessa continues to try to recreate Hex-tech, where, yes, she’s doing it for her own self-serving desires, but who told her to go to Piltover in the first place? In my opinion, it might have been Swain, seeing as his raven is seen poking around looking for the Hex-gem in Jayce’s, now destroyed, hammer.

I should also add that in relation to the overall timeline of Arcane, and it soon to be related properties, is that the current events within Arcane, so let’s say Arcane’s conclusion, the Invasion of Ionia has concluded, as if you can remember, the woman that Ambessa killed in Mel’s backstory is an Ionian princess, check out these bits of concept art from the Fortiche artists (Link 1) & (Link 2).

[Pianist] is teased to be Jhin.

Go to (00:23:10) in the video linked, he did not make a connection between this side character and Jhin, also are we just forgetting that Jhin is Ionian? And he would be much older than this side character??

Ziggs was not [inspiration] for Isha.

I thought I’d add to this point about the inspiration behind Isha: Isha is described as a child of Zaun, with Linke commenting that her hat is a miner hat, which is an allusion to Zaun’s early mining industry (00:24:47). We can see in Act 1, that although she is a child, Isha is very invested in the independence and freedom of Zaun, seeing as she poses as Jinx in what is possibly various rallies in the Undercity. I’d like to think she’s Zaun’s hope :) (let’s not think about what her death implies for Zaun…)

Renata will [replace the Chem-barons] in future.

Again, no confirmation. This discussion (00:27:19), was just that- a discussion of the future of Piltover and Zaun. Based on the production timelines, we may not actually see newer Champions like Renata, because they are released during production; I think we might get a mention of her in the next series, though.

Viktor will be explored on later shows confirmed- he is more than just human or Arcane user now; he is something special.

The status of Viktor and Jayce was confirmed to be dead (ಥ_ಥ) by Christian Linke in the recent Netflix Afterglow interview for Season 2 Act 3- HOWEVER, he described Viktor and Jayce to be “disintegrated” (1:33 – Netflix Interview) which is not what happened on screen. Instead, what is show to us in the show that Viktor and Jayce are sucked into the acceleration rune.

(“They’re alive- they’re stuck in time purgatory!” I say as they drag me into the asylum)

It should also be mentioned that the team, or at least Christian Linke, are interested in exploring what Viktor has become by the end of Arcane (01:20:05), and potentially the fates of Viktor and Jayce post-Arcane– again this does not imply that we will see either of them in the story in any direct capacity.

As for what Viktor is? Throughout this interview, he’s described as a symbiosis between the technological and organic– this does not mean he’s ‘cured’ of his disease and he’s not still disabled!

Throughout season 2 act 2, we see Viktor continue to use his staff to support himself, and Jinx also comments on his appearance, saying that he ‘looks like he’s got a couple [of conditions]’ (hahaha)- lets also not forget that in his Machine Herald form, his leg and back brace are fused into his body. (Interesting how something similar happened to Mel when she unlocked her empath powers, her golden accessories fused into her body- what’s up with that Fortiche?)

Personally, based on what Linke said “… what's different about Viktor is the Hexcore … [the runes] used [in] the Hexcore [are] a different thing, [they’re] much more powerful …” (00:31:01), and of course what we see in the show, I think that Viktor’s body is directly connected to the Hex-core, which creates transmutations within Viktor’s body, keeping him ‘alive’ but he also becomes a mage.

In the world of Arcane/LoL, you can become a mage by either being born as one, or praying to an Aspect or a God. However, Viktor (with the unintentional help of Jayce) became a mage due to the Hex-corisation of his body and soul- but his magic is different from other mages. A lot of the patterns that appear on Mel’s force-fields are very clean, neat, like the runes we see drawn on the various Hex-tech devices, but whenever post-Glorious Evolution Viktor casts a spell, we see this white-glowing webbed orb appear, similar to Ekko’s Z-drive. Not sure what this means, but I thought I’d share my ramblings :)

Other champions from Zaun and Piltover will be brought up to Arcane timeline.

This point was briefly mentioned (00:31:55 - 00:32:15), but even I wasn’t sure about how to interpret this. I think it might refer to the character re-works in League of Legends, but so far they’ve only reworked characters actually featured in Arcane; I’m guessing future reworks for more characters are being discussed amongst the creatives at RIOT, but we have to wait for the upcoming series to see what’ll happen.

Urgot is coming later.

… Again, no direct confirmation, Linke said “Not yet … he wasn't part of the story. I do think Urgot is really interesting …” (00:33:03). Urgot is a character based in the Zaun/Piltover story, so seeing him in the sequel series is unlikely.

Viktor and Jayce are confirmed to be bromance- like very good friends who die for each other any given time.

Look, I’m biased as fuck when it comes to these two, but Christian Linke did say “… I think it’s not romantic.” Again, like with many things in this interview, this is his opinion.

Whilst he may be the co-creator behind Arcane, his opinion was only relevant to his contributions regarding their narrative, just like how the voice actors (for both Arcane and LoL!), the many animators, and writers at RIOT had their own important contributions and interpretations on the relationship between Jayce and Viktor.

From the stuff we’ve seen this past month from the cast and crew, with Toks Olagundoye reposting Jayvik fanart, Harry Llyod reading Jayvik fanfics, and Kevin Alejandro signing not one, but 2 Jayvik fanarts, as well as of course the many Jayvik artworks from the team over at Fortiche; it seems that quite a lot of the team have quite a differing opinion from Christian Linke, almost as if he’s missing something lol.

I’ll finish up this section with a comment from Amanda Overton, because it the best response to how their relationship is interpreted and the description of their relationship:

"Fans are always justified in reading things the way they want to because that’s part of making art. When you do a thing for it based on you, it doesn’t actually have meaning until other people give it their own meaning. My backstory is very different from your backstory and my experiences are very different from yours so I can only speak from my experience. When I put a thing that I’ve written out in the world, then everyone brings their own different experiences to it."

"We were writing them as a loving, brotherly relationship that unambiguously [had] love between them. When it got to that final moment, it was so romantic and beautiful to me when I saw it for the first time—the way Fortiche put it together—I was like, “Oh, well maybe there is hope [for] these guys to have some future beyond what the show intended.” That was really cool for me to see. If people want to imagine that, I think they can, and that’s wonderful. Now that the show is over, if there’s the potential for that out there, then that’s potential that our fans can realize for themselves."

House of Medarda will play part in future of [Runeterra].

Yep! Christian Linke alludes to this in (01:11:37). Mel, or perhaps an older Mel, will appear alongside Noxian characters like Swain and Darius in the future series. It will be interesting to see the political dynamics between these characters as Mel is not only a Medarda and a Mage, but someone intimately connected with the Black Rose (◉_◉).

Glorious Evolution robots are inspired by biblical angels without wings.

Linke said this when it came to the design of Viktor’s Glorious Evolution robots (01:15:10):

“We actually talked … about how we want to have something that depicts, in quotation marks, ‘angels’; something angelic and pure, but then also [that] has … slightly lost some of the expression and … humanity, in a way that's a bit eerie. That's what Viktor's vision [was], but it will deteriorate [one day].”

The religious imagery regarding Viktor was unintentional, the intention behind Viktor was more centred around depicting him as a Messiah– “… We never wanted to have this direct link to any specific religion, it's just this idea of some Messiah or someone that people [wanted] to follow … [it] doesn't have to be religious but, of course, there is a certain connotation. The beauty of religious art … [it’s] just absolutely beautiful stuff and the supernatural depictions of it … [is] very inspiring.” (01:19:14)

There are selected few who [organize] and keep lore in check.

This is not true! Or at least this has not been outright confirmed in this interview; the question at (01:24:24) was not fully answered by Linke in this interview.

I also want to add a though of my own regarding this quote from Linke, “I would say it's 70% us and 30% Fortiche having ideas and then we talk about it, and I agree.” (00:15:12). This attitude that all these ideas came mostly from the writing team seems a bit ‘egotistical’ as Viktor would say- there was a significant gap in communication between the writing team and the team at Fortiche when it came to the world-building, lore, and plot that was shown on screen (you can see this is the attached screenshots of Amanda Overton’s tweets).

(Let’s also not forget that team at Fortiche indicated that the woman that Ambessa killed in Mel’s flashback is an Ionian princess, implying that the invasion of Ionia occurred prior to the events of Arcane; Fortiche animators were also the ones to propose the CaitVi sesbian lex scene; let’s not even get to Amanda Overton’s comments regarding how the Fortiche team implied the romantic relationship between Jayce and Viktor like, the Fortiche team is doing a lot of heavy lifting lol)

At the end of the day, the story we see as the audience is in filmic form, which is a primarily visual medium, so any bits of lore or story is based on what the storyboarding, voice over, animation, and post-production teams want us to see and take away from it.

(Edit: sorry! I completely forgot to actually put the images of the transcript!)

[gachagon]

I haven't made a post on it yet so here is one about how Mel's ending has an air of hope and opportunity in it, even though she ends up "with nothing" in the end. In the opening for the show, we see that Mel and Ambessa swap places on this very same lounge chair, foreshadowing that she'd eventually take her mother's place as head of the Medarda's personal army.

In Noxian society, strength comes before anything else but "Strength" isn't just "whoever has the most muscle/power" it can mean many things, in fact in the League of Legends lore Noxus has three core pillars of strength.

"Vision, Might, and Guile"

Essentially, there's more than one way to be strong in Noxus outside of being physically overpowering to others, or having the most influence. Mel fits right in with the rest of the Noxus characters even though she may not think it herself, because she's constantly referred to as "The Fox" or "clever", alluding to the idea that her strength comes in the form of "Guile". Being clever and outsmarting your opponents.

Mel's strength is different from Ambessa's overt physical prowess, and now that Mel is essentially a general of her own war band, she has a chance to lead said war band in a way that's different from Ambessa.

Ambessa used the Medarda war band to protect her family via securing more power for the Medarda's as a whole, but Mel now has a chance to use said war band for a totally different reason and cause, one that suits her needs and not her mothers. Since the next show for Arcane will definitely take place in Noxus, it makes me wonder if Mel will potentially use her families war band to help other people, rather than for subjugation and to colonize more places for Noxian control.

In the games lore, Noxus is this all powerful nation that has slow going plans to invade and eventually take over the world, by making every nation Noxus. And the most recent place is Ionia, which is a nation full of nothing BUT magic.

And Mel herself is very magical, so I just feel like even though her ending was sad because she had lost her mother and is now by herself, an opportunity has arisen for her where she's now got more power than she ever did before. She may not be the "ruler" of Noxus (no one is really, not even Leblanc...) but she can go and help other people, she has more political sway, she can finally be involved in the Noxian military without her mother's direct input.

In Season 1, Mel wants to spare that girl who was supposedly a princess of a fallen court that was now under Noxian rule, but Ambessa murdered her anyways because keeping her alive was too much of a liability.

Mel is always looking for ways to compromise the violent acts the Noxian army commits, and now she literally can call the shots of her own army to, do things her way. I think that's a very hopeful ending for her, because she has always been someone who wanted to prove herself and to make change, and now she has that, even though it cost her a great amount of strife and pain.

It's also worth noting that her story wasn't just about her mother accepting her as strong, but about accepting the way she used her strength. Mel wasn't strong in the way Ambessa was, and because of this Ambessa believed her to be weak, too weak to really be the head of the Medarda war band. She sent Mel to Piltover specifically because she believed Mel's strengths would be better there, in a place that wasn't a battlefield (per Ambessa's Champion story on the league website) And because she had already lost her son to battle, she took on this burden of being the strongest Medarda she possibly could for her family.

Learning to accept the different pillars of strength was what Ambessa had to learn, she had forgotten that there isn't just "Might" but also "Guile" and "Vision", a way to be strong without overpowering others physically. And I think many Noxian characters also forget this aspect, which gives Mel a new purpose to show the "Guile" part of Noxian society, where you don't have to murder everyone in your path in order to be seen as strong.

Granted, this does make Mel an even more morally grey character, because she's still essentially apart of a murderous colonizing regime T_T but the idea that she can bring compromise to a nation that almost forgets what that is at times is important to me.

That, and Ionia is also a nation about "balance" and how you can't really have too much of one aspect of nature. Violence and Peace has to have a balance in order for things to stay chill, and this disagreement is why the Ionian invasion is such a bloody war to begin with. But that's a whole other story you can read on the league website.

[chronicsyd]

so I WAS going to post another long winded rant about Disney's Wish (I'll post that later) but Arcane decided to post another 30 second Teaser for us; and announcing the Trailer (yes, FULL Trailer AHHH! *ahem* sorry) is going to be releasing on September 5th! But let's get into what they showed us in this little teaser shall we? (go check out the teaser first it's only like 30 seconds and as usual, leaks will be blocked and deleted)

With this one frame they've already showed us several things. they've confirmed everything that was talked about Vi at the Annecy festival (some people were kinda skeptical if this was something that was legitimate for a while, myself included), and they've confirmed for me that Vi and Caitlyn are going their own ways at the beginning of the season (for a little while, at least). Vi tries to figure herself out in Zaun while Caitlyn's still an Enforcer up in Piltover. They also seem to be confirming the idea that there's some kind of time skip happening in s2 (not as large as s1 but there's something). And why I believe this is because Jinx is being painted in the same light as Vander, as someone that's respected in Zaun. People have already started rallying behind her at this point in the story.

Now, the bigger meat of the teaser:

I put Caitlyn and Jinx side by side for a couple reasons. Not only are these two taking on more of a leadership role this season, they're enforcing the idea that these two are the two sides of the same coin they hinted at in season 1 (they just both seem to be heading in the opposite direction the other was in season 1, if that makes sense), but they both have a figure explaining to them what they need to do for the better of Zaun/Piltover: Ambessa and Sevika. However, each of these characters are being told different things. Ambessa is a War general, she believes that in restoring peace Caitlyn needs to declare Martial Law aka military government and it seems that Caitlyn not only does this but she allies herself with Ambessa and Noxus in order to do this. On the other hand, Sevika's explaining to Jinx that she's the one that can rally Zaun together (and it seems that Ekko might actually be joining her on this). Because under both Vander and Silco there were still people opposed to how the Undercity was run (Under Vander, he was playing it safe with Piltover but Piltover was treating the Undercity badly but under Silco he was a kingpin and several people were still suffering under the effects of Shimmer and the only reason the Enforcers weren't as hostile because of Silco's allyship with Marcus, until Jinx steals the gemstone and Piltover retaliates). But with Zaun actually being at war with Piltover now, Jinx needs to be seen as a symbol for Zaun for people to rally behind, because to them Topside is the bigger enemy.

(I just had to add this pic of Sevika because like God Damn she looks so attractive here like step on me! *ahem* sorry, had a bit of gay panic there...moving on...)

Now, I'm going to hold off on giving my overall thoughts until the full trailer drops in a couple of days. just so that I can gather some more thoughts about where season 2 is going as a whole and when I'm given some more information to glean from, granted I'm SURE that the trailer won't give us any clear cut information because Arcane is great at that.

Oh one last thing:

Jinx's poster in for S2 has her being strangled by Vi's gauntlet, and Jinx is faced upsidown (with the caption "Time to turn things upsidedown") which i presume is just how different everyone/everything is going to be different compared to the last season. but i do wonder What Happens between Vi and Jinx that gets them like this? Because there Has to be a scene between the two that ends badly (probably before we see Vi with her black hair and leather, because in the earlier pic i showed Vi's already seeing Jinx pained alongside Vander)

ok NOW I'm done.

Anyways, I'll post again in the next couple of days when the trailer comes out. Bye!

[explosionshark]

(Kicking my feet off the bed Iike Faith) so anyways. Caitlyn’s maternal family have been watchers for generations, but Caitlyn resents that her mother uses her influence on the Watcher’s Council to keep Cait out of harm’s way. She LEAPS at the opportunity to ship off across the pond & be away from her, even if her assignment at that point is just “twiddle your thumbs for a bit”.

she’s assigned to the same county that Vi is incarcerated in: ostensibly because the council has credible reports of a potential slayer in the area & will send details soon (lol), more realistically bc sending her there fulfills her desire to be In The Field while satisfying Cassandra’s desire to keep her safe. After all, the only would-be Slayer she could mentor is behind bars, and the Council can’t just meddle in the American Judicial System for their own benefit, right???

right?????

Anyway Vi 110% does not listen to her bc who the fuck are you, you’re like 4 years at most on me, fuck off. It’s Caitlyn exasperatedly trying to explain things and plan with Vi whose solution to everything is just “okay but I can stake them and they die right? So why not just go in with that plan every time?” While Caitlyn tries not to Scream

im realizing implies Jayvik are the closest things to Willow and Tara and yknow what. That’s not that wrong either. When you really think about it, Mel leaving Piltover is kinda like Cordelia leaving Sunnydale. Which I guess makes Noxus the Los Angeles of League/Arcane, a statement that is actually not untrue LMAO

Anyways. I’m going insane about this now. I’m so normal about this. Vi the Vampire Vlayer real.

CAITLYN IS WESLEY....!!!! LIKE SHE SUCKS LESS BUT DUDE SHE'S LIKE IF WES WAS A HOT LESBIAN WITH MOM ISSUES

Honestly, Cait's mentor being Grayson who managed to pull strings for her to get Vi released is perfect bc like. Yes it was the right thing to do. But it also involves the absolutely unconscious flex of a massive amount of privilege that Caitlyn would 100% not even think of acknowledging (it's not PERSONAL privilege after all, it's just using the massive institutional power she has behind her and it's actually just making things right so no big deal???) and that would absolutely put her and Vi in such a tense place to start out bc Caitlyn literally bucks the entire prison system ("what like it's hard?") that has had its boot on Vi's neck for years and THEN starts telling her whAT TO DO. NO SHE DOESN'T HAVE FIELD EXPERIENCE BUT SHE TRAINED A LOT AND HAS ALL THESE BOOKS

But also she IS hot and Vi IS a dyke and she ALSO is weak to anyone taking care of her at all so it wouldn't take much to get a hook in her.

Jayvik + Mel rounding out the Scoobies is so good. Ekko + the Firelights could stand in for Gunn and his crew. There's something here. I'm going crazy.

[HEAVY BREATHING] VI AND CAIT H/C AFTER THE CRUCIAMENTUM (CAIT WASN'T TOLD ABOUT IT, ABSOLUTELY FLIPS HER SHIT WHEN SHE FINDS OUT VI IS IN DANGER, BIG BREAK FROM HER IDEALISM HERE)

[affogato-analysis]

I really, really like Mel's arc actually!

I'm back on my defending hated character arcs bs!

spoilers for the entirety of Arcane.

There are multiple themes to Arcane. We will not discuss thematic coherence here, please and thank you.

Season 2's two main themes are "Love is always the way in and out of hatred and monstrosity" and "Your family is always with you".

This post is only about the second theme but the two intertwine all the time.

Your family will always catch up to you.

Vander is constantly brought back by his love for his daughters until all his memories and love are ripped away from him, leaving only Warwick.

Caitlyn becomes a monster out of love for her mother and uses her legacy to carry out "justice". Ambessa calls her forth because she is a Kiramman.

Mel Medarda lives in her Mother's shadow. Piltover is her attempt at building something away from her. Ambessa's arrival in season 1 crumbles her efforts to stand away from her, until it doesn't.

(btw, I would argue Mel's refusal to mind her mother's words about the upcoming Zaunite uprising is partly due to her refusal to walk the warrior's path, on top of rejecting her mother directly.) (not that we ever got a proper Zaun/Piltover war but Jinx’s rocket was preventable if Piltover hadn’t been an oppressive force, and Ambessa was right when she tried to warn Mel of it)

Mel chooses peace, steps away from the Medarda's penchant for war even if that means losing territory (which a colonial power is not fond of doing, as one knows).

And then.

Her mother's conflict with the Black Rose becomes hers and hurts her friend.

And if that wasn't enough, the Black Rose brings her brother back to life, just to torment and manipulate her.

So. In the face of the truth that your family will always catch up to you, no matter how far you go and how much metaphorical and physical distance you put between you and them, Mel walks the hardest path.

If she can not escape her family, she will destroy it.

And I want to point out that we have the exact moment she makes that decision. It’s this frame, right before she smashes his head in the wall!

and yes, it’s probably not the exact thought she had and she didn’t think she’d have to kill her mother until the two met again and Ambessa made clear she would invade but let me have this, this frame is so beautiful and I love it.

On top of that, Mel’s magic is inherited, she was born with it. It’s from her biological father and she can not escape it either. But she can turn it on her mother and kill her with it though!

“You are no Medarda.”

On top of being a fire line, this is why Mel’s arc is about claiming her heritage and destroying it. This is not just her choosing to apply her mother’s warriors strategies (“A wolf has no mercy”), this is her killing what her heritage is. If the Medarda name will not leave her, if it will chain her to a throne, she will destroy its legacy and make what she wants out of it. She will kill its previous owner and what they stood for to forge ahead.

Of course, this is all speculation, especially since the last frame of Mel is this.

Where she certainly takes after her mother. But I’d argue this can still be read as making her heritage hers and choosing what it means; it can be replacing her mother and erasing her.

It could also be argued as a tragic ending for a woman who tried her best but could not get away from her family though.

I’m going to talk about the Noxus/bite marks cinematic for 20 seconds tops. She is walking her mother’s trace, going back to the beach we see in Ambessa’s backstory, wearing her colors and leading her nation. But she wields magic and pushes onwards in a direction her mother did not see nor use.

Again, taking over and replacing your family’s legacy with your own, even if that means destroying everything they’ve done.

Could also be that she’s burdened by her mother’s conflicts and that she has to solve them despite her own choice towards peace at the end of season 1, yes.

Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts! What do you people think of Mel’s arc! (and you’re perfectly allowed to be super critical and rancid if you hated it, i’d just loved it if you could argument a bit your perspective, I’m sure it will be interesting!)

[no-shxme]

not a talonpost but bc its my blog here's my unnecessarily long review of the ambessa novel. there WILL be spoilers, however I'm gonna divide it by type. (including no spoilers)

this post is gonna be long so im putting it under the cut. i'll even use mostly good grammar. (crazy)

Overview: (this zone is spoiler-free)

Obligatory note of: this is just my opinion feel free to disagree. Right off the bat let me just say that this book was hard to get through. Noxus is my favorite region but I don't care much about Ambessa, didn't care much about her in Arcane either. Mel is cool but that's all. This would be remedied if the writing was better but it's also just--not. I took a break from reading other books to read this one (I didn't hold to this by the way, I read two other books while I was reading this one. that's why it took so long.) and the difference is... pronounced. This isn't to say that the writing is all bad. It's more middle of the road for me, mostly. There's definitely some tasty lines in there. There's a line notably that goes: "Every breath was agony. There was not enough air in the whole world." I really like that one. That's the single gem from the prologue, which is single-handedly the worst part of the book.

The prologue is only spoilers if you haven't seen that one blood sweat and tears video as it's literally that, play by play with just a little more background context. And it's so bad. When I got through the prologue I was prepared to be brutally disappointed by the rest of it. It feels like something that a higher-up gave to the writer like 'put that in asap.' Dunno if that's actually the case but it reads like that, so either way, not good.

My opinion is that this book is pretty mid, I think they made poor writing choices and I just didn't believe a lot of it. It reads very much as a 'video game book,' with pacing meant to keep people locked in. I think it doesn't help from a subject matter standpoint that they picked Ambessa in the past, so the stakes are automatically lower because she can't die yet, and neither can Mel, or Rell. I'm not saying this like I was hoping characters would die. I think a lot of writers slap character death into stories (or a lot of readers expect it) when what they really want is for characters to change. (And someone dying is a very easy way to do that.)

The Change: (broad thematic spoilers??)

Ambessa has none. She is a strong fighter making hard choices at the beginning and by the end she is a strong fighter making hard choices still. Throughout the book she continually makes hard choices, strength of the wolf and all that. Mel changes a teeny bit in the beginning (we learn how she gets her tattoos) but then she's the same. To be fair, Mel's not as important of a character in the novel so that's at least more excusable. Anyway, I found Ambessa boring because of it. Her 'character growth' is more or less reaffirming what she already knows, and she reacts to stuff that happens to her but she doesn't really change.

The Characters: (general character spoilers)

There are a lot of non-champ characters introduced. In my opinion many of them uhh a little too fast. LOTS of new names are thrown around and I kept having to flip back. This goes for locations too. There's a map at the front of the book that I kept going back to look at. Could be a skill issue though to be fair. :')

As far as new characters go, the most important is probably Ta'Fik, the primary antagonist, and Rudo, Mel's father. I didn't... reallyyyyy care about either of them. We meet Kino too, Mel's brother, but uhhh. Yeah I mean he's nice but he just didn't leave much an impression to me personally, mainly because he's barely focused on, so I can't blame him.

Rell is also involved as a principle character (spoilers for Rell b plot) and she's like, super bisexual (though I suppose it reads more as lesbian bc she's only showing interest in this girl, but whatever! We know she's bi.) In the story she has like, this budding relationship with this other character, Tora, and honestly like.... I hate it. To me it feels really shoehorned, especially when combined with the pacing. A lot of time is covered in the book. Journeys take months. Totally fine of course, but we don't really experience the bulk of that journey except for some scattered scenes, so it becomes harder (in my opinion) to believe their interest in each other. It's really weird, personally how Ambessa brings it up to begin with. Like when Tora is first introduced Rell sees her and just insta blushes and then she's described as a heart breaker and Ambessa tells her off a little like 'hey don't break her heart' or whatever it was she said. It did serve a dual purpose but it just felt too quick and like, weird. There's also another scene where Rell and Ambessa are shopping in the Immortal Bastion and at one point Ambessa starts to talk to her and Rell's like: oh omg my bad I thought you were going to give me The Talk.

AND IM HUHHHH

I don't know. I'm aro so I dont vibe with romance in a lot of cases, but I can respect it in context. But this just felt really weird and random. It felt like a plot device to say look how happy I get to be before the Black Rose kidnaps me and turns my life to shit. It seems very juxtaposition-serving and I wish it was done differently. Additionally, because of all of the journeying that happens mostly out of view, some conversations happen that I think could have happened much sooner, considering the length of their journeys. We don't even learn a ton about Tora so it feels-half baked. I understand that Ambessa is the main character but if we're going to switch povs and focus on different characters I would like to see more meat there.

A quick tangent about the POV. (no real spoilers) I thought it would be Ambessa's pov only, but the POV actually changes to a bunch of different characters and I understand for storytelling (and the fact that Ambessa has no change in character) why they did it but I wish they'd really pushed it. This is definitely more of a personal writing gripe though. I don't think every switch was necessary or particularly strengthened the book. I think it needed more flavor.

Also, a lot of the writing to me felt like it lacked the necessary emotional dig to make something as compelling as it could be. We dig into some emotions, but not enough imo. I really wish they would have pushed everything a little further. I think I would've liked every character more. Instead it kinda feels like we're being hustled from scene to scene. The story lacks emotional complexity. I don't necessarily think it's the author's fault, though I haven't read anything else she's written.

The Lore: (spoiler heavy)

What disappointing me about this book is how it emphasizes (to me) how little Riot has planned ahead. Rell's not even that old but already her lore is getting reworked. Technically her book lore now fits into her bio lore, but if you read the bio you wouldn't think that, because there's no mention, so it seems unplanned, something they just came up with. And if we're going by this new lore that puts Rell in like what, her 30's? She'd be older then Mel right so... idk. Well into adulthood at the time of 'current cannon,' so it's not even like, the identity that people signed up for. Rell is a teenage girl going on a rampage and its weird to suddenly make her an adult. It's like putting Annie in a story so that her 'canon' age is 45. It's like--weird. It wouldn't be as bad if they'd just planned it in advance but it doesn't read like they did, so (imo) they should just abandon the idea of a shared unified canon. Because it just doesn't work with a champion roster this big. Now there's technically two Rells. The sixteen year old Rell with no mention of Ambessa, and the other Rell who is well into adulthood (if she even lived that long). So what's going to happen with the MMO then? Are we going to get teenage Rell with 11 year old Mel? Or are we going to get Adult Mel with Adult Rell? It's cooked.

Noxian lore in general was the main reason I read this book. (That and for a talon/du couteau mention) and there was a good amount of Noxian lore, though not as much about the Immortal Bastion, rather northern Shuriman settlements. Which is fine, it's just my interest is located in a more Talonish direction lol. Either way, it's nice. There was a surprising amount of drakehound lore, and we do visit the Immortal Bastion once, which is cool. I will consolidate the lore tidbits into a different post later for anyone who doesn't want to read the book lol.

As cameos we do get a paragraph a piece for Swain and Marcus Du Couteau but I'm going to be honest, while the fanservice is cool it reaallyyyy cheapens the book. An Arcane viewer won't necessarily be familiar with either of those characters, so a random paragraph dedicated to them reads as very out of place. When I first read the section I thought to myself: 'thats cool but if they never bring up Swain or Marcus again then this is going to read as shit.' And uhh... yeah. There's actually two du Couteau mentions by the way, but one is only mentioned like 'even a Du Couteau showed up' or whatever, I can't remember the exact line I'll have to look at my notes. And then the paragraph on Marcus. I don't really believe in fanservice, I think even a book based on an existing property should be able to stand alone, (unless its a sequel) so I think the inclusion of bigger sections on characters that are LITERALLY never mentioned again is a terrible writing choice and shows a lack of restraint. AbsoLUTELY would've written that differently.

On the topic of magic, the way magic is written is like.. floaty. I know Riot is using more of a softer system, the rules are not clearly defined. But man I wish we'd at least give it a bit more definition. A lot of runes/sigils are involved in the book and I just--don't fully know what a rune/sigil is in the context of this book. Like I DO. but i also DON'T. It's floaty. They're like, drawing them and putting them on people and I'm just--how are they coming up with them? I wish it was dug into a little more. Agh. Also magic is described pretty loosely and I wish it just had a bit more realness to it. By realness I mean something to ground it more. It felt vague. I would also say that Rell mastered her magic awful fast but at the same time, Mel did pretty similarly I think in Arcane so I'm assuming that's just how it goes you just pop the magic cherry and suddenly it all comes flooding in.

This review is way too long but I have one more like, major grievance:

Leblanc: (spoilers.)

IS SHE INCOMPETENT???? IS SHE INCOMPETENT?? IS SHE SLAYFUL BUT USELESS???

So at the end of the novel Ambessa is visited by Leblanc who says "omg you're so pathetic but you've somehow managed to ruin years of planning AND kill two of my BEST mages. anyway you're intriguing i'm gonna let you live bye."

AND ITS HUHHHHHHHHHHH

AH YES. THE CLASSIC 'YOU INTRIGUE ME, I AM SOOO POWERFUL BUT I'LL SPARE YOU,' SCHTICK. love that. so much. never been done before. It'd be at least more believable if LB HADN'T JUST SAID HOW SHE RUINED SO MUCH FOR HER. I don't know it's kinda crazy. leblanc is painted as this big schemer with eyes everywhere and centuries of plans but here she just seems incompetent not killing ambessa. we know why ofc. If ambessa dies then she won't show up in arcane, but like. DAMN. it just sucks. and it makes me wonder about her other antics. like how in the hell does kayn manage to steel a darkin weapon from NOXUS, if leblanc is clearly interested in a darkin weapon. it's just so ridiculous i think she might be a girlfailure. (and it highlights the lack of planning on riot's part but) idk the book made me respect her far less. don't get me wrong, i like her, but she's also a flop. if there's some power limiter on her that the reader doesn't know about then.... i would like... to know a little bit.... a hint. an inkling. because otherwise she's just a girlfailure...

Minor Nitpicks:

There's one section of the book that uses the word Dancer so many times in a short period that it pissed me off so bad.

Reiterating: there are some good lines but some of the prose is SOO clumsy that I don't know why they didn't change it.

There's lots of explaining things through talking, and lots of summary, including summary of stuff that's already happened.

A yordle gets mentioned.

I think some of the names for the warbands/ops are pretty dog. But that's just my personal opinion. 'The Scar's Rangers' 'The Bloody Thunders,' 'The Shadow Hunters.' Really not a naming style I enjoy. To compare I think of Achilles' Myrmidons which sounds much cooler to me. I wish they could've added at least a lil more variety in terms of naming convection, even throwing in some Shuriman word or something, that'd be cool.

The way they handled language in general disappointed me, but it could've been much worse so it's whatever.

After all that, I dub this book mid. It wasn't the worst, but I didn't care for it much. I won't reread except for lore. I don't think it's a waste of a book or anything I just wish things had been done differently. I'm gonna be totally bold and say that I almost wish we had a totally different character as the only protagonist. I think Kino would have been an excellent choice to focus on both his sister AND his mother, and would have allowed for a unique perspective, provided the plot of the book delved beyond its original scope. Like a tragedy ending with Kino's death would have been really good I think, considering we still don't know how he died. That being said it'd probably have sold like shit or smth because no champ pov. Whatever. 5/10. If you've read the novel I'd love to hear your thoughts, even if you disagree or whatever. All opinions are welcome. Thanks if you indulged me and read the whole thing.

[cookierye]

ive decided it's been long enough. ramble time

let's talk about ambessa in arcane season 2 and the kindred

first things first. as there's a lot of people who don't know league stuff but still watched arcane, fuck are the kindred? well, they're death. kind of

there's multiple interpretations of death in this universe. one of them however is the interpretation of the kindred, two entities that always go together. one grants a death swift and painless, the other toys with its victims and grants them a slow death. depending on the region, this duo can look like a number of different creatures, however for ease's sake i will go with the default freiljord representation: lamb being the first, wolf being the second

the reason why this means anything is because a lot, and i mean a lot of regions believe in the kindred as their twin deities of death. this includes piltover, zaun, and most of what ill talk about here, noxus

noxus is a region that loves its wars. it loves its fighting, and thinks the most honourable way to die is in battle. in regard to the kindred, this translates to that noxians think even death should be fought, therefore being brought to their end by the jaws of the wolf is the only right way to go. a death in lamb's hands, a calm and peaceful one, is seen as a coward's way out

so let's talk about ambessa.

another note for our non league arcane fans: ambessa was added to league of legends after her arcane debut. with that release came a cinematic which i absolutely recommend watching, but to make a long story short: ambessa, while almost having died in battle, was visited by a wolf and got a vision of her being chosen by the kindred, taking a deal granted to her by a very wolf-like version of lamb. she's presumed to be pregnant with mel during the cinematic, and there's imagery of her sacrificing a lamb statue

now to arcane. ambessa is of course a noxian as we all know, and so is of course mel. the only way acceptable for them to die, to her, is in battle.

in a conversation between the medardas during season 2, ambessa makes a comment on "sacrificing one child for another". the black rose makes it clear that ambessa, even if not willingly, let kino die. it seems like ambessa indirectly sacrificed kino to save mel, just like she, in the cinematic, brought the statue of the lamb to be sacrificed

and the finale goes with her going up against caitlyn and mel

during the fight, you might have noticed a little conversation between the medardas. when mel brings out the amulet given to her by leblanc (presumably the sorceress, yes), she says the words "a wolf has no mercy"

wolf, of the kindred, is not a merciful death. it's a long and painful and difficult death. mel knows ambessa might die at the hands of leblanc. to mel, leblanc is the wolf. the painful, slow death

and yet she steps in anyways. because the noxians fight the wolf, even at death

despite that, as ambessa dies in her arms, she looks at mel. and her expression isn't anger or sadness. it's complete and unsheltered pride. happiness. and ambessa's final words are these

"you are the wolf"

mel is ambessa's death at the end. ambessa and mel fought and mel won. ambessa dies in battle, and she dies honourably. ambessa sacrificed kino and died in mel's arms after losing the battle to her

ambessa sacrificed the lamb. died at the hands of what she, herself, called the wolf

kino was ambessa's lamb when mel was her wolf.

[clefaiiiry]

Join me as I try to figure out where the FUCK Sett's arena is

Since Riot haven't even given a name for Sett's mother's tribe, you know damn well they're not going to make this easy.

But anyway, long ramble under the cut;

For starters, we know it's in a city called Qayanvi. We know this via voicelines and flavour text in Legends of Runeterra.

Legends of Runeterra Voicelines from Sett

So what do we know about Qayanvi and, more importantly, where is it?

Title Menu Splash art for Legends of Runeterra shortly after the Glory in Navori expansion dropped.

This art for the title menu on LoR shows Jack presumably before crashing Sett's arena as shown in their card arts. While is is not confirmed outright, it's pretty safe to assume. But since we know what the interior looks like via multiple card arts, we don't even have to assume.

Sett and Jack's Level 1 Card Arts from LoR

Qayanvi must have been a region that Noxus controlled - or at least had influence in - during the First Invasion, and Sett wouldn't move since he wants to stay close to his mother. This is a little harder to figure out since the interactive map on universe only shows the areas currently occupied by Noxus during the Second Invasion.

First image; Red highlights show areas occupied by Noxus. Second image shows place names.

Some of the architecture also seems to have heavy Noxian influence, with this large brutalist grey stone courtyard. We can also see in other card arts that this Noxian style of architecture is present in other locations in Ionia.

Lord Broadmane Card Art from LoR. I don't think this is Qayanvi since the Ionian buildings in the background have blue roofs rather than red ones, but it shows how the Noxian structures coexist alongside the Ionian ones across the previously occupied regions.

We also know that Qayanvi is on the coast since we can see the harbour in the background here.

It also would have been reasonable to assume Qayanvi was a coastal city even without this confirmation since trade is so important for such a crime ridden city. Sett's arena is operating out in the open and everyone knows what sort of dirty business a crime boss like that gets into. Having direct trade links with Noxus and Piltover / Zaun just makes the who operation so much easier.

Navori as a region is described as having 'notable' criminal influence and is quite unstable due to it's previous occupation.

Card Art for The Witness. I'm not as confident about this one being Qayanvi, but the sea wall looks to be similar and the buildings in the background also appear to have a similar shape / red roofs.

Biome map used during development of the Interactive Runeterra map. Link attached to image.

The coastal area that I would have assumed Qayanvi to be in is shown to be a steppe / prairie. It's hard to judge in the images we have, but this looks somewhat consistent.

So we're looking for a coastal area in Navori, not necessarily still in Noxian controlled space, but close enough to continue trade.

Location of Ionian Capital taken from the Wiki; unable to find a source. The city is officially referred to as Ionia City, and is where the Ionian Council meet for various discussions / debates.

With all this in mind, I'm gonna take a stab and estimate that Qayanvi is somewhere within this red line;

Areas in black I think are highly unlikely, areas in yellow are potential but I'm not as confident. The large area south of Ionia City and west of Weh'le I believe(?) is the area attacked by Singed's chemical weapons and therefore are too barren to sustain a city like Qayanvi.

I'm not totally happy with my guess and I'd love to see other people take a swing, but this is the closest I would be happy to guess with the information I can find.

If you made it to the end of this post, thank you for reading and I hope this was interesting!